Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf during an interview in Dubai, May 2, 2011

Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf says the United States is violating Pakistan's sovereignty by launching military action in the country.

Musharraf made the comment on Monday, noting that al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's death is a "positive step" but the operation had infringed on his nation's sovereignty, Reuters reported.

“American troops crossing the border of Afghanistan and putting in an action in Abbottabad violates the sovereignty of Pakistan. This is an extreme sensitivity,” the former military ruler said.

Musharraf also criticized Pakistan's intelligence apparatus for failing to find bin Laden who was living near a military camp in Abbottabad, about 55 kilometers north of Islamabad, for several years.

He also pointed out that al-Qaeda supporters may take revenge against the United States and Pakistan.

US officials say they notified Islamabad of the details of the raid after US forces involved in the attack left the country's airspace.

“We shared this intelligence on the compound with no other country, including Pakistan," a US official said on Monday.

The official added that the reason for not sharing intelligence with Islamabad was “the need to maintain complete secrecy” about the operation.

However, during his Sunday televised speech, the US president credited Islamabad's cooperation in tracking bin Laden.

"It is important to note that our counter-terrorism cooperation with Pakistan helped lead us to bin Laden and the compound where he was hiding," Obama said.

The announcement of bin Laden's death comes almost ten years after the September 11 attacks on the United States.

On September 11, 2001, a series of coordinated attacks were carried out in the United States, leaving almost 3,000 people dead.

During the incident, 19 reported "al-Qaeda terrorists" hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners and crashed two of them into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing everyone on board and many others working in the buildings.

The hijackers crashed a third airliner into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C.